40 Years of Care and Counting 

Bluebird Kids Health has deep roots in Palm Beach County — and they start with one pediatrician who saw a need and decided to do something about it.

In 1982, Dr. Daniel Kraft moved to the area and noticed something: families didn't have many options when it came to pediatric care. He was among the first pediatricians in Palm Beach County, and from the beginning, he built his practice around a belief that wasn't yet common in pediatrics. A child's physical health and emotional wellbeing weren't separate things. They were the same thing.

Shortly after opening, he brought on Jane Brennan, one of the first nurse practitioners in the county. Together, they built Palm Beach Pediatrics into something the community hadn't had before: a practice that treated the whole child. Just a few short years after that, they brought on Dr. Tim Bell as a partner as well. 

What made Palm Beach Pediatrics different wasn't just the care. It was the approach. At a time when mental health was rarely part of a pediatric visit, the team was already asking different questions. Dr. Kraft had an early and deep interest in developmental pediatrics and autism care, long before it was widely recognized as a priority in the field. That curiosity shaped everything, from how providers were recruited to how care was coordinated across a child's entire wellbeing.

It's also what attracted Dr. Shannon Fox-Levine.

She joined the practice in 2003 and became a partner in 2005. By then, Palm Beach Pediatrics had already grown to three locations. But for Dr. Fox-Levine, the draw wasn't the size. It was the philosophy.

"Mental health is my big thing," she says. "People oftentimes separate out mental health from physical health. But there's really no separation. It's the body and the brain, all one."

That belief has guided her for more than two decades. Over time, she deepened the practice's ties to the broader Palm Beach County healthcare community, serving as Medical Director of the Center for Child Counseling and integrating trauma-informed and behavioral health care directly into the patient visit. In 2023, the practice, led by Dr. Fox-Levine, was recognized with the Advanced Primary Care Practice Award from the Primary Care Collaborative.